Contingency Plans
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Set after book 5 of Harry Potter and before season 4 of NCIS.  Lily made a plan to ensure that he son would be cared for once she passed.  Years later, Jethro Gibbs sets out to fullfill a promise to an old friend.  How will Harry react to his new guardian
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, NCIS, or any of their characters.**

**Contingency plans**

**A/N: For this story, Harry was born in 1990 instead of 1980. Also, I'm not sure how soon The Potters had Harry after they graduated in the books, but for this story, it wasn't for another five years. **

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was in his basement working on his latest boat, which was how he spent most of his free time. Building helped him clear his head of the things he dealt with every day on the job.

Gibbs was sanding the boat when he heard a loud noise from upstairs. "What the hell?" he asked before taking his gun out and making his way upstairs. When he got there, he found an owl parched by the window in his living room with an envelope tied to its leg.

Gibbs wasn't as surprised as one might think at having an owl delivering mail. Years ago, he and Shannon had had a friend that was, shall we say special. She had gifts that he wouldn't have believed existed if he hadn't seen them for himself. And in her world, mail delivered by owl was a common occurrence.

He went over to thing and took the letter off its leg. He looked at the envelope with his name on it and immediately recognized the handwritten as belonging to the same woman he and Shannon had known years earlier when spent time in England. He was a bit surprised to be hearing from her though because he hadn't heard from her in about fifteen or sixteen years. She'd gone into hiding around that time and he assumed that she was still in hiding. He was also surprised because the letter was dated back fifteen years. Why had it taken the letter so long to get to him?

Gibbs opened envelope and found two pieces of paper. He opened the first one and started to read.

_Dear Jethro,_

_If you're reading this letter, it means that the Dark Lord has gotten to us and James and did not survive. _

Gibbs immediately stopped and fell into a chair. She was dead. Lily was dead. The dear friend that he and Shannon had made when he was stationed in England was gone. It tore a hole in his heart because the three of them had been so close for a long time.

Gibbs took a deep breath and went back to the letter. He needed answers.

_It also means that my little boy has in fact survived and has been left with no one. Dumbledore ensures us that he will make sure Harry ends up where he is supposed to, but I don't trust him. I have more than once caught Dumbledore talking about Harry as if he was some kind of weapon that needs to be prepared. _

_You and I have discussed in great length as to what I want for Harry. I want him to be raised by someone who will love him as well as get him ready for what he must do. That person is you. You know that I want you to be the one to raise to raise Harry if James and I cannot. The problem is, I don't believe that Dumbledore will honor that. He will try to keep Harry under his control. He will try to put Harry with my no good sister. I am positive of that. And you know why I can't let that happen. That's why I'm writing you know. I need you to insure that that doesn't happen and remove Harry from Dumbledore's control._

_I know I can count on you to do what has to be done, Jethro. You've never failed me in the past. I know you won't start know. I've enclosed a copy of my Will so that no one can claim you are lying. Thank you for everything. _

_Love Lily._

Gibbs felt his blood boil. He was beyond angry. Angry that some meddling old man had tried and had managed to make him break a promise to Lily that he'd made many years ago. Lily had called him right before she and her family they'd gone into hiding. She begged him to take care of her child if she wasn't able to do it herself. He'd agreed of course. He could never turn her away. When he hadn't heard from her though, he assumed she was able to stay safe. Now he knew that wasn't true. Lily and James were dead and their son was alone.

Gibbs stood up and slammed his hand against a wall angrily. He'd unwittingly broken a promise and he hated that. He'd never in his life made a promise he couldn't keep. He knew it wasn't really his fault that he'd broken this one, but it still angered him.

He took a deep breath to try to calm down. There was no use focusing on the past. He couldn't change what happened fifteen years ago. All he could do was work on the future, and that was exactly what he intended to do.

Gibbs grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "Yes, I need a flight out to England as soon as possible." It was time to fix things and do what Lily had asked him to do. He was going to England now, and he wasn't coming back without Harry Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs sat in a small diner in London. He was waiting for Remus Lupin. He'd managed to send a letter off to the man with that owl that brought him Lily's letter asking him to meet him. He'd only met Lupin a couple of times, but he knew the man would do the right thing. He was always a good friend to Lily and James.

"Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs stood up turned around and saw Remus. "Hi. It's Jethro," he said as he held out his hand.

"Remus then," Remus said as he shook his hand. The two then sat down across from each other. "I was quite surprised to get your owl."

"Well, I surprised when one showed up at my window with a letter from Lily," Gibbs said.

Remus' eyes widened. That was the last thing he expected to hear. "Lily sent you a letter? She's been dead for almost fifteen years."

"Yeah, I know that now. Didn't know until a couple of days ago."

"You hadn't heard?" Remus asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "I figured I hadn't heard from her because they were still in hiding. I would've thought that if Lily and James had died, someone would've contacted."

"Well, no one in the magical world thinks to contact muggles when a magical friend of theirs dies," Remus said. He whispered the last part for secrecy purposes.

"No you don't understand. I _should've _been contacted," Gibbs said. As the legal guardian of Lily's child, he should've been told that she and her husband had died. "Did Lily ever tell you about her plans for her son if she died?"

"She didn't have any. That's actually what posed a big problem with where Harry was placed. Lily and James didn't make a Will. Now, normally Harry would've gone to Sirius in absence of a Will because he was his godfather, but circumstances prevented that from happening," Remus explained.

Gibbs took Lily's will out of his jacket pocket. "You're wrong. They did have a Will. Lily sent this to me fifteen years ago. For some reason, I didn't get it until a couple of days ago."

Remus took the offered document and looked it over. His face went from confusion to complete shock. He then looked back up at Gibbs. "She left you her son. Lily left you Harry."

Gibbs nodded curtly. "I already knew she was gonna. We talked about it at length. She told me what Harry was most likely destined to do. She told me what she wanted for him. She had nothing against Black, but-"

"But Sirius was hardly parent material. Yeah, I know," Remus said. Sirius had been his best friend, but he tended to agree with Lily. Sirius never was the discipline type. He was more interested in being Harry's friend than anything else. "I don't understand. Why has no one seen this? Harry is right now with people who couldn't care less about him.

Gibbs growled. "Let me guess. Petunia Dursley."

Remus nodded.

"This is why Lily sent me that letter. She didn't want that for her child. She wanted her son to be loved and cared for. She knew he wouldn't get that from her sister," Gibbs said.

"So why didn't she send this Will to anyone else. Gringotts bank should've received a copy of it," Remus said. He didn't understand this. When a witch or wizard died and left a Will, it was always left at Gringotts, and Gringotts always made sure it was read and carried out. So why hadn't Lily sent hers there?

"What makes you think they didn't?" Gibbs asked. He was sure that Lily went through all the right channels with her Will. He was also sure that that old man Lily had told him about had buried it somehow. He also suspected that the bastard had something to do with why he hadn't received Lily's letter for fifteen years.

"If Gringotts had received Lily's Will, they would've made sure it was carried out," Remus said.

"Unless someone buried it," he said.

"Who would do that?" Remus asked. He couldn't think of anyone who would knowingly try to circumvent Lily's wishes.

"Some old man named Bumbledoor or something like that."

"Dumbledore? No, he would never do something like that," Remus said. Though even as he said it, he had doubts. Dumbledore would do just about anything if it was for the so called greater good.

"Well, Lily seemed to think he would. That's why she sent me the Will in the first place. She wanted to insure that no one would be able to stop me from taking custody of Harry. Unfortunately, she wasn't a hundred percent successful or I would've gotten it fifteen years ago," Gibbs said.

"You think Dumbledore stopped you from getting the letter sooner," Remus realized. He couldn't deny that it was possible. Lily would've insured that he couldn't completely stop it, but if he tried hard enough, Dumbledore could've delayed it. It almost worked too. One more year and it wouldn't have mattered.

"I don't see any other way it could've happened."

"You came here to take custody, didn't you?" Remus asked. It was mostly a rhetorical question. It was obvious that the man was here to take Harry. H wouldn't be there otherwise.

"Oh, you're damn right I am. I promised Lily that I would take care of her child. I may be fifteen years late, but I fully intend on keeping that promise," Gibbs said firmly. "I take it you'd prefer I didn't though."

"On the contrary. I think Harry would be better off going home with you. England isn't really safe for him right now. The Dark Lord is back and he'd do anything to kill Harry. He needs to be as far away from here as possible. I will warn you though, he won't want to go," Remus said. He knew leaving the Dursley's wouldn't be a problem for Harry, but leaving Britain and his friends would be. Especially so soon after Sirius' death.

"Yeah, I'm sure. But this has to happen. It _will _happen," Gibbs said.

"And it should, as soon as possible. If you're right about Dumbledore, you should be gone with Harry before he finds out," Remus said. He knew if Dumbledore found out what was happening before Jethro took Harry from the Dursley's, he would do everything in his power to stop him.

Gibbs nodded and stood up. "Okay, let's go."

Remus got up as well and led the way out of the diner.


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs followed Remus to the Dursley's front door. Just so you know, the Dursley's aren't exactly the most caring people in the world," Remus said.

"Yeah, I got that much from Lily. That's why she wanted me to raise Harry. She didn't want him to end up here," Gibbs said. There was anger evident in his voice towards the end of that statement. He was angry that someone had completely ignored what Lily wanted and destroyed what she'd set in motion for her child.

Remus recognized the anger, but chose not to comment. Instead, he just knocked on the door.

The door was opened seconds later by Vernon Dursley, who grew purple with anger when he saw Remus. "You! What do you want? Your kind isn't welcome here!" he yelled. He then whirled around on Harry, who was standing just a few feet away. "You called them here, didn't you, Boy!"

Vernon made a move to strike Harry, but soon found himself staring into the eyes of one pissed off Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Gibbs had pushed his way inside just as Vernon advanced on Harry and he got in between them. "You put one hand on this boy and you find yourself unable to use it ever again."

"Who the bloody hell are you? This is none of your business!" Vernon snared.

"That's where you're wrong. This boy is very much my business and if I ever find out that that you've hit him before, I will personally see to it that you regret it," Gibbs promised.

"Remus, what's going on?" Harry asked from behind Gibbs. He was very confused. Who was this man who'd just kept his uncle from hitting him? Was he in the Order?

"Harry, you need to come with us. Go get your things," Remus said.

Harry hesitated for a minute, but did as he was told and headed for the stairs. He quickly grabbed his trunk and Hedwig before coming back downstairs. "I'm ready. So where are we going?"

"My cottage for now," Remus said. He figured that was the best option for right now. That way they could explain to Harry what was going to happen without having to worry about Dumbledore walking in on them.

"If you take that boy now, don't expect him to be welcome back this summer!" Vernon said.

"That won't be a problem. He's not coming back," Gibbs informed him.

Harry looked at the man in shock. He said Harry wasn't coming back to the Dursley's. Did he mean ever? What was going on?

"Come on. We need to get out of here before Dumbledore gets wind of this," Remus said.

"Wait, Dumbledore doesn't know you're here?" Harry asked surprised. Remus didn't usually do anything unless Dumbledore said it was okay. He trusted Dumbledore to know what was right. So why would the man come get him without Dumbledore's okay?

"Harry, I promise all your questions will get answered, but right now, we need to leave," Remus said.

Harry nodded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he trusted Remus more almost anybody, so he did what he was told and followed the two men out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Harry followed Remus and the man whose name he'd yet to learn into a small house. It was pretty tiny, but he supposed it was big enough for Remus. "So this is where you live, Remus?"

"Yes, it is. Now, I know you have a lot of questions, but first there are introductions to be made. Harry, this is Jethro Gibbs. He was a good friend of your mother's.

Harry stared at the man in shock. "You knew my mum?" He'd met a lot of people who were friends with his father and could tell him many stories about him, but this was the first person he'd met that had primarily been friends with his mother.

"Yes, I did. She was a good woman. She loved you more than anything in the world," Gibbs told Harry.

"Let's sit down and we'll explain everything to you, Harry," Remus said.

Harry nodded and sat down on the couch in the small living room. Remus also sat on the couch and Gibbs sat in a chair.

"So what's going on?" Harry asked.

Gibbs took the copy of Lily's will out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Harry.

"What's this?" Harry asked as he took the offered piece of paper.

"It's a copy of your mother's will," Remus answered.

Harry looked at him for a minute and then looked down at the document in his hands and began to read. His face went from curious to shock when he read what his mother had planned for his future.

Harry looked back at Gibbs. "Leroy Jethro Gibbs. That's you. My mother wanted me to live with you when she died."

Gibbs nodded. "As I said, your mother and I were good friends. She asked me to look after you before she went into hiding and I agreed."

"Wait, do you know…"

Gibbs nodded. "I know everything. I know about magic. I know about the Hitler wannabe that wants to kill you."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at Gibbs' description of Voldemort. "So if this is what my mother wanted, why didn't it happen?"

Gibbs and Remus looked at each other for a minute. Then Remus answered. "Your mother's Will was somehow buried. We think by Dumbledore. No one knew it even existed until a couple of days ago."

"I received it the other day. Before then, I didn't even know Lily had died," Gibbs added.

"I don't understand. Why would Dumbledore do that? If he knew what my mother wanted, why would he leave me with the Dursley's," Harry asked, his voice laced with betrayal. How could Dumbledore do that to him? He knew how he felt about the Dursley's and how they felt about him. How could Dumbledore leave him there knowing there was another option?

"Harry, Dumbledore is not as perfect as he'd like people to think. His concern is and has always been stopping You Know Who. So much so that he sacrifices others to achieve his goal," Remus explained.

"So my life was just another sacrifice to him?" Harry asked angrily.

"To put it plainly, yeah," Gibbs said.

"Dumbledore told me something about blood wards protecting me at the Dursley's. Could that be true?" Harry asked.

"I highly doubt it, Harry. Even if there were such wards, they would be null and void after the events of your fourth year. Your blood now runs through You Know Who's veins." Remus said.

Harry felt like he'd been slapped. That was true. Voldemort know had his blood inside him. He would've easily been able to bypass blood wards. "Bloody hell!" Harry yelled as angrily stood up. "Has that man ever told me anything that was true!"

"Harry, it's okay," Remus said.

"How is it okay? That man has destroyed my life!" Harry yelled.

Gibbs got up from his chair and went up to Harry. He then smacked him upside the head.

Harry gaped in shock. That had thrown him for a loop. No one had ever hit him like that before. Not even the Dursley's had ever tried to hit him until today.

"Did you just hit him?" Remus asked angrily as he got up and went over to him.

"Oh, he's fine. It's not like I beat him up. It was a wakeup call," Gibbs said.

"A wakeup call for what?" Harry asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Your life isn't over, kid. It was severely screwed up by a meddling old bastard, but it's not over. Not if you don't let it be," Gibbs told him.

"What choice do I have? He's been running my life since my parents were murdered. He's not going to stop now," Harry said.

"He doesn't have a choice. That piece of paper over there is all I need to keep him at bay," Gibbs said.

"Wait, what are you saying? You want me to live with you?" Harry asked.

"Well, yeah. What do you think I came here for?" Gibbs asked.

Harry blinked stupidly. He supposed he probably should've figured that out. Why else would the man be there talking to him. "But why? You don't even know me."

"I made a promise to your mother. I told her I'd look after you. I told her I'd see you through this war and that's what I intend to do," Gibbs said firmly.

"What if I don't want to go?" Harry asked. A part of him did want to go. He wanted to get away from the Dursleys and away from Dumbledore, but he had reasons to stay too. He had his friends. He couldn't imagine leaving them. And he knew he'd have to. This man was an American. It was obvious that that was where he lived.

"Not your call. I told your mother I'd do right by you and I'm going to whether you like it or not," Gibbs told him. He wasn't surprised by the boy's reluctance. His whole world had been in England. It was understandable that he wanted to stay.

Harry stared to protest, but Remus interrupted him. "Harry, I know you probably don't want to leave England. I know you probably wish to stay and be with your friends. But it isn't safe for you to be here. You Know Who would like nothing more than to kill you. You need to go someplace safe."

"What if something happens to Ron and Hermione are killed while I'm off being safe?" Harry asked. He couldn't live with that. It was bad enough that people had been killed trying to protect him. He couldn't deal with anything happening to his two best friends.

"You really think your being here would make a difference right now? Do you think you think you can beat this bastard as you are?" Gibbs asked.

Harry went to answer, but found he couldn't. The truth was, his presence probably wouldn't make much difference. He wasn't strong enough to stop Voldemort. Hell, he wasn't sure he ever would be.

"Harry, I know you don't want to, but you need to go," Remus said.

Harry sighed in defeat. He wanted to keep arguing, but he couldn't think of a reasonable argument against theirs. "Fine. I'll go."


End file.
